George Magrath, MD, MBA, MS

Chief Executive Officer

George Magrath, MD, MBA, MS

George Magrath, MD, MBA, MS

Chief Executive Officer

George Magrath, MD, currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and a Board member of Ocuphire. Dr. Magrath is a board-certified ophthalmologist with extensive clinical, business, and financial experience. Most recently, Dr. Magrath was CEO of Lexitas Pharma Services, a leading contract research organization in ophthalmology. Lexitas experienced a substantial growth in headcount, expanded into multiple additional service offerings, including an image reading center and a significant shift into retinal diseases, and was acquired by a top-tier private equity group during Dr. Magrath's tenure. Prior to Lexitas, Dr. Magrath served as the medical director at Hovione, where the team he worked with was responsible for the development of proprietary assets in ophthalmology, dermatology, and respiratory. Dr. Magrath began his career as an equity analyst at Edison Investment Research where he covered small and mid-sized pharma and biotechnology companies. Dr. Magrath holds a Master of Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Business Administration from The Citadel, and a Medical Degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Nirav Jhaveri, CFA, MBA

Chief Financial Officer

Nirav Jhaveri, CFA, MBA

Nirav Jhaveri, CFA, MBA

Chief Financial Officer

Nirav Jhaveri served as Chief Financial Officer of Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage, AI-based biotech, where he oversaw finance, corporate strategy and investor relations, with the company raising $110 million and securing over $100 million from business development transactions during his tenure. Previously, Mr. Jhaveri served as Chief Financial Officer of Journey Medical Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, where he led business development, corporate strategy and capital raising. Earlier in his career, he held roles in business development at Fortress Biotech, equity research at Citigroup and investment banking at Bank of America. He earned his B.A. in Chemistry and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. Mr. Jhaveri is a CFA charterholder.

Ash Jayagopal, PhD, MBA

Chief Scientific and Development Officer

Ash Jayagopal, PhD, MBA

Ash Jayagopal, PhD, MBA

Chief Scientific and Development Officer

Ash Jayagopal is a bioengineer by training with over 15 years of experience leading multidisciplinary research teams focused on therapeutic research and development, drug delivery platforms, and biomarkers for retinal diseases in industry and academia. Prior to joining Ocuphire, he served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Opus Genetics. In this role he had scientific and clinical leadership responsibility for Opus’ retinal gene therapy portfolio, including management of discovery, manufacturing, nonclinical development, and clinical development functions. Prior to Opus, he was Executive Director of Discovery Medicine at Kodiak Sciences where he supervised early-stage portfolio development, and the Head of Molecular Pharmacology and Biomarkers in Ophthalmology at Roche. His accomplishments at Roche included leadership of teams conducting discovery and IND-enabling studies for over 16 programs, including the FDA-approved therapeutic for retinal vascular disease, Vabysmo® (trademark of Genentech, Inc.), the first bispecific antibody in ophthalmology. Prior to his career in industry, he was an Assistant Professor and NIH-funded Principal Investigator at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Ash holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. An author on over 40 peer-reviewed publications, he has been awarded the Roche Key Contributor Award, Dolly Green Special Scholar Award from Research to Prevent Blindness, and a Junior Faculty Award from the American Diabetes Association. He is a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), a Fellow and President of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT). He serves on the Innovation Advisory Council for Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Editorial Board of Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Joseph Schachle, MBA

Chief Operating Officer

Joseph Schachle, MBA

Joseph Schachle, MBA

Chief Operating Officer

Joe Schachle brings more than 30 years of experience in life sciences to his role as Chief Operating Officer of Ocuphire, with specific expertise in corporate and commercial strategic and operational planning and execution. Prior to joining Ocuphire, Mr. Schachle was Chief Operating Officer at Opus Genetics, a gene therapy company focused on rare inherited retinal diseases.  Mr. Schachle served as Vice President of Customer Experience Enablement and Vice President of Global Commercial Services and Controlling at Grifols, where he led multiple commercial departments across business units, managed key cross-divisional initiatives and directed strategic brand planning process. Previously, Mr. Schachle was the COO for Parion Sciences, and part of the team that secured partners for the company’s lead programs, which exceeded $1 billion in deal value. Mr. Schachle has also served as Chief Commercial Officer for Inspire Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw multiple partnering deals and promoted three eye care brands, including Restasis®. In addition, he’s held multiple sales, marketing, and new product development leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline, where he managed several billion-dollar brands including Advair®, Imitrex®, Wellbutrin SR®, Epivir® / Retrovir® and Combivir®.

Amy Rabourn, CPA

SVP of Finance

Amy Rabourn, CPA

Amy Rabourn, CPA

SVP of Finance

Amy Rabourn serves as the Senior Vice President of Finance of Ocuphire.  She has 18 years of finance and accounting experience, including public company, with a focus on life sciences.  In her most recent role, she was Director of Finance at Gemphire Therapeutics, Inc. which merged with NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in December of 2019.  She was with the company since inception as its first finance employee.  She implemented processes and procedures and supported the Company through private fund raising and its IPO in August of 2016.  She oversaw daily financial transactions, performed budgeting and forecasting, and managed the financial reviews and audit, SEC filings and tax preparation.  Upon departure of the CFO in September of 2018, she assumed additional responsibilities including management of insurance and HR activities and reporting to the Audit Committee.  After the merger, she continued as a consultant to NeuroBo in the same role as they transitioned to public company status.  Prior to that, she held a position as Controller of a software start-up, performed financial consulting in the life sciences space and worked in Finance at Pfizer.  She is a licensed CPA with public accounting experience from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP where she worked in the audit practice.  Amy is a graduate of the University of Michigan where she earned a MAcc (Master of Accounting) and BBA with a Finance and Accounting concentration. 

Charlie Hoffmann, M.B.A.

SVP of Corporate Development

Charlie Hoffmann, M.B.A.

Charlie Hoffmann, M.B.A.

SVP of Corporate Development

Charlie Hoffmann serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance at Ocuphire. From 2008 to 2018, Mr. Hoffmann served as an advisor to the founders of Ocularis Pharma, the original developer of Phentolamine Ophthalmic Solution 0.75%, to help them raise capital for clinical development and evaluate possible strategic transactions for the company. After Ocularis and Ocuphire merged, he joined Ocuphire. Since 2004, Mr. Hoffmann has served as a financial and strategic advisor to emerging pharmaceutical development companies, including SynDevRx, Inc., a pioneer in the field of metabo-oncology. As a Director at Prudential Vector Healthcare from 1996 to 2001 and a partner of EHS Securities from 2001 to 2003, Mr. Hoffmann managed numerous PIPE, IPO, and follow-on offerings, as well as strategic and license transactions. Previously, Mr. Hoffmann gained extensive experience in corporate finance and merger and acquisition transactions and managed capital markets relationships at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Hoffmann earned his M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business and his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Barbara Withers, Ph.D.

VP of Clinical and Regulatory Strategy

Barbara Withers, Ph.D.

Barbara Withers, Ph.D.

VP of Clinical and Regulatory Strategy

Barbara Withers serves as Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Strategy at Ocuphire. Dr. Withers has over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in various roles supporting drug development programs, spanning phases 1 through 4. Most recently, Dr. Withers held the position of Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aerpio Pharmaceuticals responsible for the oversight and delivery of clinical trials evaluating novel small molecules for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, wet AMD, DME, glaucoma and COVID-19. Dr. Withers has previously held positions of Medical Writer supporting multiple NDAs, Drug Development Project Manager, Clinical Scientist and Safety Risk Management Leader at Pfizer; Clinical Scientist at GE Healthcare; and Site Head and Project Director at United Biosource Corporation. Dr. Withers received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Wayne State University School of Medicine and performed post-doctoral research in cancer biology at Parke Davis/Warner Lambert.

Drey Coleman

VP of Clinical Operations

Drey Coleman

Drey Coleman

VP of Clinical Operations

Drey Coleman serves as the Head of Clinical Operations for Ocuphire. Ms. Coleman has approximately fifteen years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development. From May 2012 to July 2019, Ms. Coleman was General Manager of Oculos Clinical Research, a clinical research organization dedicated to human clinical trials in ophthalmology. In this position, she had responsibility for management of Oculos business operations, guidance and support of clinical project teams and oversight of clinical trial activities, including responsibility for P&L vendor management and client relations. Prior to that, from October 2006 to December 2010, she was Director of Contracts and Compliance with Sirion Therapeutics, Inc., a successful ophthalmic pharmaceutical company. During this time, she was responsible for the creation of compliance programs, policies, and training associated with drug commercialization activities. In addition, Ms. Coleman acted as chair of Medical/Legal/Regulatory review team for promotional materials and aided with the development and support of programs for educational and investigator-initiated trial grants. She was also a key member in support of investment funding arrangements more than $80 million related diligence and responsibility for associated disclosures. Following the sale and liquidation of Sirion’s assets with multiple entities in 2010, Ms. Coleman was an integral part of the wind down team and execution of the wind down plan. Ms. Coleman has extensive knowledge of the laws and regulations affecting the pharmaceutical industry, along with a proven track record of successful contract negotiations. Ms. Coleman holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Florida.

Chris Ernst

VP of CMC

Chris Ernst

Chris Ernst

VP of CMC

Chris Ernst is a research scientist with over 25 years’ experience in a variety of industry settings. Chris’ experience includes 18 years of research experience in support of nonclinical and clinical research in support of investigational new drug applications, amended new drug applications, combination products, biologics, and pivotal bioequivalent investigational products. During this time, he has have ensured regulatory compliance in support of Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP), Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), Organization for Economic Cooperative Development (OECD), and Medical Device oversight including US FDA and associated international global regulations (ICH, EU Directives, etc.). Additionally, he has lead audit teams of regulatory inspectors from multiple international regulatory bodies including US FDA, Health Canada, Chile and other Latin and South American regulatory authorities, multiple member countries within the European Union (EMA), China, South Africa, Australia, India, and Russia. Chris has also served as an expert consultant to establish acceptance and approval of IND applications to achieve approval NDA by the US FDA, EMA, and other international regulatory authorities. His experience includes support of manufacturing practices from drug substance manufacturing and intermediate/registered starting materials manufacture including small molecule, proteins, and monoclonal antibodies from humanize mammalian strains, to drug product manufacture including solid oral dose, capsule, topical ointments, sterile injectables, and sterile topical ocular drops. This work has supported advancement of oral, subcutaneous, dermal, intravenous, and topical ocular-delivered drugs to Phase 1 through Phase 3 clinical trials. 

Kim Morris

VP of Medical Affairs

Kim Morris

Kim Morris

VP of Medical Affairs

Kim Morris currently serves as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Ocuphire.  Ms. Morris has over 25 years in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry with a focus in ophthalmology since 2004.  Prior to joining Ocuphire, Ms. Morris was the Vice President of Business Development with Lexitas, a CRO focused on ophthalmology where she led the sales team that increased Lexitas top-line revenue 75% year-over-year in two successive years which facilitated an acquisition of Lexitas by a private equity firm. Ms. Morris started her own company, Proactive Project Management in 2011 and lead medical communication initiatives for pharmaceutical/biotechnology clients focused on product positioning, messaging, strategic planning and scientific messaging to support the company vision, pipeline and current products. 

Sharon Goldbach

Head of Human Resources

Sharon Goldbach

Sharon Goldbach

Head of Human Resources

Sharon Goldbach serves as the Head of Human Resources. She has over 15 years of experience in Pharmaceutical and Biotech. She began her career at Teva Pharmaceutical as an Executive Administrator, managing the Sr. Vice President of Global Medical Affairs department. She then joined the startup company Harmony Biosciences, where she was the Head of Executive Administration and Facilities where she oversaw the CEO office, Administrative and Meeting Planning team and was a member of the Senior Leadership team. Sharon joined Ocuphire in 2023 as the Executive Administrator.